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	{{Infobox scientist		{{Infobox scientist
	\| name = Hugh Everett III		\| name = Hugh Everett III
			\| image = Hugh_Everett_III.jpg
			\| caption = Everett in 1964
	\| birth_date = 11 November 1930		\| birth_date = 11 November 1930
	\| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.		\| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

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{{Infobox scientist
| name = Hugh Everett III
| birth_date = 11 November 1930
| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| death_date = 19 July 1982
| death_place = McLean, Virginia, U.S.
| fields = Physics; operations research
| alma_mater = Catholic University of America; Princeton University
| doctoral_advisor = John Archibald Wheeler
| known_for = Relative-state formulation; many-worlds interpretation
}}

'''Hugh Everett III''' (11 November 1930 - 19 July 1982) was an American physicist best known for the relative-state formulation of [[Physics:Quantum mechanics|quantum mechanics]], later widely associated with the many-worlds interpretation. His work offered a way to treat measurement without adding a special collapse postulate to the ordinary quantum evolution of the wavefunction.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Everett |first=Hugh |title=Relative State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics |journal=Reviews of Modern Physics |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=454-462 |year=1957 |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.29.454}}</ref>

Everett completed his doctoral work at Princeton under [[Biography:John Archibald Wheeler|John Archibald Wheeler]]. His interpretation was initially controversial and received limited attention, but it later became one of the major approaches discussed in quantum foundations, cosmology, and quantum information.

== Relative states ==
Everett's central idea was that the total wavefunction evolves continuously according to the [[Physics:Quantum Schrödinger equation|Schrödinger equation]]. Instead of a unique collapse outcome, observers become correlated with different branches or relative states of the quantum system.

This approach is closely tied to the [[Physics:Quantum Measurement problem|measurement problem]], [[Physics:Quantum Decoherence|decoherence]], and the question of how classical-looking outcomes arise from quantum dynamics. It remains one of the most discussed interpretations in modern quantum theory.

== See also ==
* [[Physics:Quantum Interpretations of quantum mechanics]]
* [[Physics:Quantum Measurement problem]]
* [[Physics:Quantum Decoherence]]
* [[Biography:John Archibald Wheeler]]

== References ==
{{reflist|3}}

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[[Category:Quantum physicists]]
[[Category:Theoretical physicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Biography:Hugh Everett III|1}}

Biography:Hugh Everett III - Revision history

Maintenance script: Add Hugh Everett III portrait to infobox

Maintenance script: Create quantum physics biography page